Newbie to podcasting
by dnavarrojr
on
May 9, 2007 at 9:14:10 pm
I am just getting started in the video podcasting world and I'm looking for "newbie" type information/advice for people getting started.
I don't have any real questions on the production end... Mostly I'm interested in distribution. Beyond tossing up a web site for people to download the podcasts, what other distribution venues are available?
What does it take to get sponsorship/advertisers?
I've googled the heck out of the subject, but I mostly run into sites with advice on production issues.
Re: Newbie to podcasting by Jonathan Miller on May 10, 2007 at 4:00:28 am
Well, I don't know any definitive sources for the type of information you're looking for so I'll try and answer some of your questions from my own experiences.
Since you're looking at producing a video podcast and not an audio one, your needs will be a bit different from most podcasters. Basically, you need to be concerned with bandwidth and codec compatibility.
Podcasting can be pretty easy but there are some pitfalls to avoid. Firstly, if you are producing a podcast for friends and family and not a general, global audience then you might be able to get away with hosting the media on a regular webserver like you'd find with GoDaddy (I use a company called Aplus.net). With my hosting plan, I get a couple of TB of bandwidth per month and I host my wife's audio podcast files on that plan wich is fine.
However, with video it's a different story. I produce a weekly 20-30 minute video podcast and it's luckily become pretty popular. I just released episode 50 today and now that I'm encoding for AppleTV compatibility (read: higher resolution and larger files) I'm now serving a couple of TB per episode per month. That would cost a fortune on a bandwidth-capped server...or simply shut me down.
Instead, I host my website and RSS feed XML with Aplus, and host my video files with another service at LibSyn.com. LibSyn offers unlimited bandwidth per month for a flat rate. You just have to choose how much storage you need and pay accordingly.
Let's face it: I wanted my show to become popular and went with LibSyn right from the first episode. I'm glad I did. I guess my content is rather unique so there isn't much "competition". I was pretty sure that would be the case so I'm very glad to have gone with an unlimited bandwidth service. My show wouldn't be possible without it.
As for getting a sponsor...
Well, you're guess is as good as mine. My best advice to you is to produce the show because you simply love to do it and the rest will fall into place. I don't have a sponsor/advertiser, but I do accept donations and that has made the show self sufficient in terms of the hosting, etc.
What you can do is sign up with podtrac.com and they will help you collect info about your audience and help you find potential sponsors. Don't forget, though, that you can always try and find sponsors and advertisers yourself.
Finally, to make a show sucessful and generate some revenue you HAVE to produce it regularly. It's a real commitment. Honestly, with all of the hours I spend on my show per week it could be my full-time job. But then again, I have a full-time (and then some) job already! I produce my shows because I love to do it. It's thrilling to put something out there that affects people in a positive way. The donations are very cool, but in the end, it's the nice emails that I get every day that keeps me inspired to do this. The audience is what makes all of the effort worthwhile.
One final thought. At this point in the game the average podcast listener/viewer has become fairly sophiticated. They recognize and appreciate production quality. Don't skimp because it's a web-delivered podcast. The more effort you put into it, the more you'll get out of it in the long run.
Re: Newbie to podcasting by dnavarrojr on May 10, 2007 at 8:31:57 pm
Mant thanks. I've already worked out the technical issues with codecs, compression and storage.
I found a few articles here and there on the revenue side of podcasting, but as I figured, I'm months away from actually seeing anything like that. I have to establish some "credibility" first.
Also, my topic has a VERY SMALL audience at the moment. I need to expand the generality a tad to move towards attracting a larger audience. That will come once I get comfortable in these new shoes.
One thing I discovered early on was that after a couple "episodes" the thought of doing this regularly was scary. Is there really that much material to cover when you're not doing somerthing like industry news. So, I spent nearly a full day outlining topics and making rough "sketches" for 15 shows. That way if I feel I'm stuck for content, I can pull an idea from the existing list and go with that. As I come up with new ideas, I expand the list.
I ran into that situation this last weekend. We got heavy flooding and storms in our area and I wasn't feeling particularly creative. So when it came time to do something, I had nothing. So... I pulled one of the sketches from the pile and used that.
I had a creative flash yesterday (partially due to feedback) and added 6 more to the pile.
Re: Newbie to podcasting by Jonathan Miller on May 14, 2007 at 6:26:12 pm
Yup, Eric nailed it right there: iTunes is the most important directory for exposure.
However, if you really do need to generate some revenue, then I suggest doing two things.
First, add Google AdSense ads to your website/blog. It can take a while, but those page impressions/clicks do eventually add up to real money.
Second, use podcast411.com's "Directory of Directories" as reference and list your podcast with every directory you can. This will help your Google search results which has a two-pronged effect. It will help people to find your show and it will lead people to your website and will get those Google ads making money.
Finally, Eric is right again that LibSyn has had several stats problems but I still stand by them. The problems haven't been that they've lost the stat info, just that sometimes you can't retrieve your stats for either hours or a day or so at a time. It's spotty, but it's also provides a nice break from my stats obsession....it can become all-consuming if you let it!
As far as I know, LibSyn has never failed to deliver a video file when it's been requested. Which, in the long run, is all that really matters anyway. Eric, have you ever had delivery problems?
Re: Newbie to podcasting by Eric Susch on May 15, 2007 at 5:50:10 am
[Jonathan Miller]"Eric, have you ever had delivery problems?"
I don't think so. We've never had a complaint and I've never had a problem downloading here. So far Libsyn has been great for hosting media files.
Can't say the same for Yahoo hosting where we have our blog. Our site seems to be down at random intervals several time a week. Tech support isn't much help so I can't really recommend Yahoo. There's a lot of places to host a blog though.
